Japan Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant blog
Tracking Fukushima news from day 1 : | Now one of the world's largest Public Available Repositories of the Chronology of the Daiichi Nuclear ongoing Disaster.
This entire site and content is 100% copyright (for commercial replication), please use the form to submit application for re-use. This site is 100% Educational and all licences in relation to reporting are attended to.

Monday, 29 June 2015

In the wake of the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear
power plant, much remains unknown about the long-term health effects
of the radioactive substances released.Seeking answers, Tohoku
University Prof. Manabu Fukumoto has been examining the blood and
other factors of slaughtered cattle and wild animals caught by
hunters mainly within a 20-kilometer radius of the plant.Over a
four-year period, 300 cows, 60 pigs and 200 Japanese monkeys were
checked. “Studying animals that lived in areas with high levels of
radioactive material will help shed light on how radiation affects
people,” Fukumoto said. “In fact, they provide us with a wealth
of information.”Fukumoto discovered that cesium levels in the
organs of calves were 1.5 times higher than in those of their
mothers. “Calves are known to have excellent metabolism, but it was
a surprise to learn that radiation could accumulate so easily,” the
64-year-old professor said. “We have to pinpoint the cause.”Eggs
and sperm will be harvested from such cows for in vitro
fertilization. Resulting offspring will then be screened for
irregularities in their DNA.The professor is a pathologist who
studied the effects of internal radiation exposure on people who had
ingested radioactive substances. After the Fukushima accident, his
wife was struck with grief when the government started slaughtering
cattle. “If anyone can ensure their deaths weren’t in vain, I
know it’s you,” she told him.Since he was nearing 65, the
professor had been contemplating retirement. “I felt I had to prove
my mettle as a Japanese researcher,” Fukumoto explained.No
longer spending all day peering through microscopes, he now strives
to gather samples around the nuclear plant. The professor was
convinced that “this is the quickest way to resolve questions
regarding long-term radiation exposure.”Using the sample
collection and data he has amassed, Fukumoto plans to build an
archive on animals exposed to radiation from the Fukushima disaster
for the next generation.“I’m all about being a zoologist
now,” Fukumoto said with conviction. Redeeming lives of
Fukushima’s irradiated animals
Source : Japan Timeshttp://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002159008

Bilateral talks on Korea's ban on fisheries imports
from Japan following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster have
collapsed, and the matter will now go before a dispute panel at the
World Trade Organization.

Seoul banned the import of 50
fisheries products from Fukushima Prefecture after the disaster, and
the ban was expanded to cover all fishery products from Fukushima and
seven adjacent prefectures in September 2013 following reports that
massive amounts of radioactive materials and contaminated water from
the Fukushima nuclear power plant were being dumped in the
sea.

Tokyo claims Korea's import ban has no scientific basis
and demanded that Seoul lift it as soon as possible.

A
government official here said, "We said the import ban was in
line with WTO regulations and asked Tokyo to explain its nuclear risk
and the state of nuclear reactors."

The Fukushima multiple nuclear disasters continue spewing out hot
stuff like there’s no tomorrow. By all appearances, it is getting
worse, out-of-control nuclear meltdowns.
On June 19th TEPCO reported
the highest-ever readings of strontium-90 outside of the Fukushima
plant ports. The readings were 1,000,000 Bq/m3 of strontium-90 at two
locations near water intakes for Reactors 3 and 4. TEPCO has not been
able to explain the spike up in readings. The prior highest readings
were 700,000 Bq/m3.
Strontium-90 is a byproduct of nuclear reactors or during the
explosion of nuclear weapons; e.g., it is considered the most dangerous
component of radioactive fallout from a nuclear weapon.1
It is a cancer-causing substance because it damages genetic material
(DNA) in cells. Strontium-90 is not found in nature. It’s a byproduct of
the nuclear world of today; e.g., strontium-90 was only recently
discovered, as of August 2014, for the first time ever, by the Vermont
Health Department in ground water at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station. Coincidentally, Vermont Yankee, as of December 29, 2014, is being shut down.
When a fission chain reaction of uranium-235 or plutonium-239 is
active in a nuclear power station containment vessel, it produces a vast
array of deadly radioactive isotopes. Strontium-90 is but one of those.
So, somewhere in Fukushima Dai-ichih a lot of atoms are splitting like
crazy (meanwhile Einstein e=mc2 turns over in his grave) and ergo, a lot
of strontium-90 pops out and hangs around for decades upon decades.
This is not a small problem.
Which may be why Einstein famously said, “Nuclear power is one hell of a way to boil water.”
For example, a large amount of strontium-90 erupted into the
atmosphere from the Chernobyl nuclear explosion (1986), spread over the
old Soviet Republics and parts of Europe. Thereby, strontium-90, along
with other radioactive isotopes, kills and maims people, a lot of
people, to this day, more on this later.Farming in Fukushima
Because of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, farmers in the greater
area have had a tough go of it. For example, on June 6, 2013 Japanese
farmers met with TEPCO and government officials,
including the official in charge of Ministry of Economy, Trade and
Industry (Translated and Edited by World Network for Saving Children
from Radiation).
The 13-minute video of the farmers’ meeting with officials shows
farmers testifying about contaminated food that, “We won’t eat
ourselves, but we sell it… I know there is radiation in what we grow. I
feel guilty about growing and selling them to consumers.”
Well, sure enough, officials from New Taipei City’s Department of
Health (Taipei, Taiwan), and other law-enforcement authorities, seized
mislabeled products from Japan. It seems that “more than 283 Japanese
food products imported from the radiation-stricken areas near the
Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster were found to be relabeled as having
come from other areas of Japan and sold to local customers.”2
Meanwhile, within a couple of months of the illicit underhanded
devious mislabeling incident, Taiwan draws a line in the sand for
Japanese foodstuff.3
Not only that but on the heels of Taiwan’s discovery of the
mislabeling gimmick, and only three months later, this past week,
Japanese authorities are asking China to remove the restrictions.4 Previously, China banned food imports from ten prefectures in Japan, including Miyagi, Nagano, and Fukushima.
Japan would be wise to suggest China first consult with the United
States because confidently, audaciously, imperturbably Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton allegedly signed a secret pact with Japan within
one month of the meltdown for the U.S. to continue importing Japanese
foodstuff, no questions asked.5
Meantime, Chancellor Merkel (PhD, physics) ordered a shutdown of nuclear power plants throughout Germany. Hmm.Fukushima and Our Radioactive Ocean
According to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Video- March 2015:

When Fukushima exploded, radioactive gases and particles
escaped into the atmosphere. Most fell nearby on land and in the ocean. A
smaller amount remained in the air, and within days, circled the globe…
in the ocean close to Fukushima, levels of cesium-137 and 134, two of
the most abundant radioactive materials released, peaked at more than
50,000,000 times above background levels.

Nevertheless, according to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute:

Scientists who have modeled the plume predict that
radioactivity along the West Coast of North America will increase, but
will remain at levels that are not a threat to humans or marine life.

To date, based upon actual testing of water and marine life in the
Pacific Ocean by Woods Hole, radioactive levels along the North American
West Coast remain low, not a threat to humans, not a threat to marine
life, so far.Fukushima and its Ocean Impact
According to Dr. Ken Buesseler, Senior Scientist, Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institute, March 11, 2015, cesium uptake in the marine
food web is diluted, for example, when Bluefin tuna swim across the
Pacific, they lose, via excretion, about one-half of the cesium intake
that is ingested in Japanese waters.
Expectantly, there are no commercial fisheries open in the
Fukushima-affected areas of Japan. On a continual monitoring basis, no
fishing is allowed in contaminated areas off the coastlines.
When contamination levels of fish in Japan are compared to fish along
the coast of North America, the levels of radiation are relatively low
in Canada and in the U.S. As a result, according to studies by Woods
Hole, eating fish from the U.S. Pacific region is okay.
Not only that, but rather than categorical acceptance of U.S.
government statements about safety from radiation in ocean currents, Dr.
Buesseler established a citizen’s network called “How Radioactive is
Our Ocean?” where individuals contribute by voluntarily taking samples.
Every sample from the West Coast had cesium-137, but the numbers are low
and at levels harmless to humans, thus far.
But, on a cautionary note, Dr. Buesseler is the first one to admit the situation requires constant monitoring.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute’s findings are not sufficient to
dismiss health concerns for many reasons, among of which Fukushima is
white hot with radioactivity, tenuously hanging by a thread, extremely
vulnerable to another earthquake or even an internally generated
disruption. Who knows? It is totally out of control!
The California Coastal Commission issued a report that agrees with
the low levels of Fukushima-derived radionuclides detected in air,
drinking water, food, seawater, and marine life in California; however,
“it should be noted that the long-term effects of low-level radiation in
the environment remain incompletely understood….”6

The risk of long-term exposure to low-level radiation is
unclear. Studies of radiotherapy patients and others indicate that there
is a significant increase in cancer risk if lifetime exposure exceeds
100,000 microsieverts, according to the World Health Organization.
A person exposed daily to radiation at the high end of the levels now
seen at Miyakoji [a village in Fukushima Prefecture] would reach that
lifetime exposure level in fewer than 23 years.7

Current Status of Fukushima Nuclear Site
According to Dr. Ken Buesseler of Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution, who travels to Japan to measure radiation levels: The site
continues to leak radioactive materials. In fact, release of
strontium-90 has grown by a factor of 100 when compared to 2011 levels.
In other words, the situation is worsening. One hundred times anything
is very big, especially when it is radiation.
Strontium-90 is acutely dangerous, and as it happens, highly
radioactive water continuing to spew out of the Fukushima Dai-ichih
facilities is seemingly an endless, relentless problem. The mere fact
that strontium-90 has increased by a factor of 100 since the disaster
occurred is cause for decisive sober reflection. Furthermore, nobody on
the face of the planet knows what is happening within the nuclear
containment vessels, but apparently, it’s not good. More likely, it’s
real bad.
According to Dr. Helen Caldicott:

There is no way they can get to those cores, men die,
robots get fried. Fukushima will never be solved. Meanwhile, people are
still living in highly radioactive areas.8

Comparison analysis of Three Mile Island (1979), Chernobyl (1986), and Fukushima (2011)
The world’s three most recent nuclear disasters are dissimilar in
many respects. However, all three are subject to the same adage: “an
accident is something that is not planned.” Thus, by definition, in the
final analysis, the risk factor with nuclear power is indeterminate.
Fukushima is proof.
Three Mile Island’s containment vessel, in large measure, fulfilled
its purpose by containing most of the radiation so there was minimal
radiation released. As such, Three Mile Island is the least harmful of
the three incidents.
By way of contrast, Chernobyl did not have an adequate containment
vessel and as a result, the explosion sent a gigantic plume of
radioactive material blasting into the atmosphere, contaminating a 70
square kilometer (approximately 30 sq. mi.) region, a “dead zone” that
is permanently uninhabitable, forever unlivable.
To this day, tens of thousands of people affected by Chernobyl
continue to suffer, and die, begging the question of whether Fukushima
could be worse. After all, the incubation period for radiation in the
body is 5-to-40 years (Caldicott). As, for example, it took 5 years for
Chernobyl children to develop cancer (Caldicott), and Fukushima occurred
in 2011.
“Fukushima is not Chernobyl, but it is potentially worse. It is a
multiple reactor catastrophe happening within 150 miles of a metropolis
of 30 million people,” claims John Vidal. Whereas, Chernobyl was only
one reactor in an area of 7 million people.
John Vidal, environmental editor, The Guardian newspaper (UK), traveled to Chernobyl:

Five years ago I visited the still highly contaminated
areas of Ukraine and the Belarus border where much of the radioactive
plume from Chernobyl descended on 26 April 1986. I challenge chief
scientist John Beddington and environmentalists like George Monbiot or
any of the pundits now downplaying the risks of radiation to talk to the
doctors, the scientists, the mothers, children and villagers who have
been left with the consequences of a major nuclear accident. It was
grim. We went from hospital to hospital and from one contaminated
village to another. We found deformed and genetically mutated babies in
the wards; pitifully sick children in the homes; adolescents with
stunted growth and dwarf torsos; fetuses without thighs or fingers and
villagers who told us every member of their family was sick. This was 20
years after the accident, but we heard of many unusual clusters of
people with rare bone cancers… Villagers testified that ‘the Chernobyl
necklace’ – thyroid cancer – was so common as to be unremarkable.9

There’s more.

Konstantin Tatuyan, one of the ‘liquidators’ who had
helped clean up the plant [Chernobyl], told us that nearly all his
colleagues had died or had cancers of one sort or another, but that no
one had ever asked him for evidence. There was burning resentment at
the way the UN, the industry and ill-informed pundits had played down
the catastrophe.10

And still more yet:

Alexy Yablokov, member of the Russian Academy of
Sciences, and adviser to President Gorbachev at the time of Chernobyl:
‘When you hear no immediate danger [from nuclear radiation] then you
should run away as far and as fast as you can’… At the end of 2006,
Yablokov and two colleagues, factoring in the worldwide drop in births
and increase in cancers seen after the accident, estimated in a study published in the annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
that 985,000 people had so far died and the environment had been
devastated. Their findings were met with almost complete silence by the
World Health Organisation and the industry.11

The environment isdevastated and almost one million dead. Is nuclear power worth the risks? Chancellor Merkel doesn’t seem to think so.
Of the three major nuclear disasters, Fukushima has its own
uniqueness. The seriousness of the problem is immense, far-reaching, and
daunting as its containment vessels are leaking radioactivity every
day, every hour, every minute. How to stop it is not known, which is
likely the definition of a nuclear meltdown!
The primary containment vessels at Fukushima may have prevented a
Chernobyl-type massive release of radioactivity into the atmosphere in
one enormous explosion. Even though, Fukushima did have four hydrogen
explosions in the secondary containment structures, and as previously
mentioned, according to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute:

When Fukushima exploded… levels of cesium-137 and 134,
two of the most abundant radioactive materials released, peaked at more
than 50,000,000 times above background levels.

But, more significant, troublesome, and menacing the primary
containment vessels themselves are an afflictive problem of unknown
dimension, unknown timing, unknown levels of destruction, as the nuclear
meltdown left 100 tons of white-hot radioactive lava somewhere, but
where?
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here,” William Shakespeare The Tempest.
Postscript: Quietly into Disaster
is an alluring, exquisite, handsome full-length film that examines the
consequences of nuclear fission, Produced by: Holger Strohm, Directed by
Marcin El.
Source: Dissident Voice
http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/06/is-fukushima-getting-worse/

Friday, 26 June 2015

Anime director and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki
donated 300 million yen (around US$2.4 million) to the town of
Kumejima, Okinawa for the construction of an "Interaction Center for
Children" in the town's Zenda Forest Park. The project's supervisor and Miyazaki's friend Tomohiro Horino expects the project to take around two years to complete.

The facility will include a two-story, 1,000-square-meter building. The town has allotted 10,000 square meters of the Zenda Forest
Park for the project. The project will solicit opinions and suggestions
for the project from the town's citizens on a regular basis.

The project was revealed last year. Miyazaki drew the concept illustration above for the facility.
Miyazaki was also asked by a friend last year to draw
a logo for the new facility on Kumejima. The facility is intended for
families and children, who were displaced from Fukushima, to be
outdoors; due to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station leak after
the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, there are areas in Fukushima that
are no longer safe for children to play.

Miyazaki has retired from making feature films, but continues to work on shortfilms for the Ghibli Museum, as well as pet projects, including a samurai manga for Model Graphixmagazine.

SEJONG, June 26 (Yonhap) -- Talks between South Korea
and Japan over Seoul's ban on fishery imports from the neighboring
country ended without any progress as they stuck to their guns, the
government here said Friday.

Seoul imposed an import ban on 50 fishery products from Japan's
Fukushima Prefecture shortly after the major earthquake and tsunami
caused a nuclear reactor there to melt down in March 2011.

The ban was expanded to cover all fishery products from Fukushima
and seven adjacent prefectures in September 2013 following reports
that massive amounts of radioactive materials and contaminated water
from the Fukushima nuclear power plant were being dumped in waters
surrounding Japan.

"The government held bilateral consultations with Japan on
June 24-25 at the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters in
Geneva over our country's import restrictions on Japanese fishery
products, but the talks ended after the countries confirmed their
differences," the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in
a press release.

Japan argued South Korea's import ban had no scientific
justification, demanding Seoul remove all its import restrictions at
the earliest date possible.

South Korea maintained its measures were still necessary to ensure
the safety of its people and that they were in line with the WTO's
sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

This week's talks came after Tokyo requested bilateral
consultations with Seoul under a dispute settlement framework of the
WTO.

Japan could ask the WTO to set up a dispute settlement panel if
the countries fail to reach a deal within 60 days following Japan's
request for bilateral consultations.

Seoul's trade ministry said it was not clear whether Tokyo will
ask for additional consultations, but that it will be fully prepared
to deal with any legal processes.

"Japan has expressed its position that it will decide its
next step after reviewing the outcome of this week's bilateral
consultations," the ministry said.

"The government will begin preparing for WTO's dispute
settlement process as Japan is expected to ask for the establishment
of a dispute settlement panel."

Thursday, 25 June 2015

The
central government approved a ¥6.5 trillion, five-year program to
help areas hit by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster
to recover, under a plan that will see local governments begin to
shoulder part of the cost.
Local governments in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures are
expected to pay about ¥22 billion. The remainder will be covered by
the central government in the five-year period starting in April
2016, according to officials.

It program represents a policy shift by the central government
because it has paid for all costs for reconstruction projects thus
far.

The central government has cited the need to consolidate its
debt-ridden finances, instead encouraging disaster-hit regions to
promote reconstruction without relying too much on the state.

Under the program, local authorities are required to bear 1.0 to
3.3 percent of the costs for reconstruction work, one-tenth or less
of the levels set for public works projects, the officials said.

Local authorities had demanded the state shoulder all the costs
for reconstruction work, saying a fiscal burden will undermine their
recovery efforts and hit financially weak municipalities.

However, the governors of the three prefectures on Monday
indicated they would accept the new formula after the state reduced
their share from about ¥30 billion to about ¥22 billion.

According to the officials, the program will allocate ¥3.4
trillion for rebuilding homes and communities damaged by the
disaster.

Some ¥500 billion will be earmarked for reconstruction related to
the nuclear disaster at Tepco’s crippled Fukushima No. 1 plant, and
¥400 billion for supporting survivors.

The state is calling the five years from April 2016 a “revival
and creation period,” aiming to finish reconstruction work in Iwate
and Miyagi prefectures and to speed up the reconstruction of the
nuclear crisis-hit Fukushima Prefecture.

Including the ¥6.5 trillion, the total reconstruction costs for a
10-year period from the 2011 calamity will amount to ¥32 trillion.

Geneva –
Japan and South Korea held talks on Seoul’s import ban on Japanese
fishery products in Geneva Wednesday under dispute settlement
procedures of the World Trade Organization but failed to iron out
their differences.

The two sides, however, agreed to continue the talks on Thursday.

The talks were arranged after Japan filed a complaint with the WTO
on May 21 over the import ban.

After the meltdown of Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1
nuclear power plant, caused by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami,
South Korea banned imports of some marine products from eight
prefectures including Fukushima. In September 2013, the country
expanded the ban to cover all seafood from the eight prefectures.

Japan took the matter to the world trade watchdog because South
Korea did not agree to the Japanese argument that the ban lacked
scientific evidence.

If the two sides remain at odds in Thursday’s talks and cannot
reach an agreement by the July 20 deadline for the bilateral
consultations, Japan will seek an adjudication by a dispute
settlement panel.

Shareholders
and politicians on Thursday urged the nation’s top utilities to
exit nuclear power as the central government moves to restart
reactors idled by public safety fears in the wake of the triple core
meltdown in Fukushima Prefecture in 2011.

Despite a number of antinuclear proposals pushed at the
shareholders’ meetings, however, officials from the utilities said
this week they were eager to restart nuclear power plants as soon as
possible after their businesses were staggered by the halt of all
commercial nuclear reactors in the country after 3/11.

Nine utilities with nuclear plants, including the biggest, Tokyo
Electric Power Co., which manages the meltdown-hit Fukushima No. 1
power station — held their general shareholders’ meetings at a
time when a nuclear power plant in the southwest is preparing go back
online this summer for the first time under tighter post-Fukushima
safety requirements.

Japan, which relies heavily on imported energy, invested heavily
in nuclear power for decades, making withdrawal from what some
believe to be a cheaper, less-polluting power source a difficult
proposition to swallow.

At Tepco’s meeting, Katsutaka Idogawa, former mayor of the town
of Futaba — which has been rendered uninhabitable by radiation
contamination — said pulling out of atomic power is “the only way
for the company to survive.”

Tepco, as the utility is known, has “forced people who were
living peacefully into a situation like hell . . . I propose that
Tepco break away from nuclear power,” the mayor said. Futaba
co-hosts the Fukushima No. 1 plant.

Officials from Kansai Electric Power Co., which held its
shareholders meeting in Kobe for the first time in many years, faced
a barrage of tough questions about nuclear power, its decision to
raise prices, and its ¥148.3 billion net loss in fiscal 2014.

Kepco faced sharp criticism for hiking household rates 8.36
percent at the beginning of the month because, as it acknowledges,
its 11 commercial reactors are still idle, forcing it to rely more on
imported fossil fuels. That was a sore point Thursday with
politicians representing cities that hold Kepco shares.

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, one of the utility’s harshest
critics, was not present Thursday but submitted a motion together
with the city of Kyoto calling on Kepco to get out of nuclear power.
The motion was voted down. Osaka owns about 9.4 percent of Kepco’s
stock.

Kepco’s heavy losses and its plans to restart reactor Nos. 3 and
4 at the Takahama plant in Fukui Prefecture — despite a provisional
injunction from the Fukui District Court in April — prompted calls
from many shareholders for management, especially Chairman Shosuke
Mori and President Makoto Yagi, to resign. But they and 14 other
senior executives were re-elected.

“Nuclear power is part of the national energy policy, an
important baseload. For reasons of energy security, economics, and
reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we need to restart the reactors,”
Yagi said at a news conference in Osaka on Thursday afternoon.

Shareholders expressed worries about how Kepco will adjust to the
full deregulation of the electricity market next year, which is
expected bring new, more flexible competition for electricity service
at a time when the company is financially strapped.

In Fukuoka, shareholders at Kyushu Electric Power Co., which is
looking to restart its Sendai nuclear plant in Kagoshima Prefecture
in August, proposed that the president be dismissed, saying his
stance of continuing nuclear power has hurt earnings.

But President Michiaki Uriu told the meeting that the utility
“aims to restart nuclear reactors as soon as possible on the
premise that securing safety is the priority.”

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to reactivate reactors that meet
safety regulations beefed-up by the new nuclear regulator that was
set up after the Fukushima crisis. The majority of the public,
however, remains opposed.

FUKUSHIMA
– University students in Fukushima Prefecture have begun providing
elderly refugees from the nuclear disaster with a unique form of
assistance just by living in the same temporary housing complex where
they now live.
By staying close to the seniors and associating with them across
generational lines, the young volunteers hope to revitalize their
communities.
The aid project was proposed by the Fukushima University Disaster
Volunteer Center, which has promoted volunteer visits to temporary
housing in the radiation-tainted prefecture. It was adopted by the
Reconstruction Agency as a state-subsidized “mental reconstruction”
project.
The project involves a temporary housing complex in the Iizaka
district in the city of Fukushima where 269 people from the town of
Namie, in the exclusion zone near the meltdown-hit Fukushima No. 1
power plant, have taken shelter. About 60 percent of the residents
are 60 or older.
Two students will live in the complex for three months, followed
by another pair each new quarter, for an entire year. The students
will meet the residents and gauge how they are getting by, shop on
their behalf and support the activities of the residents’
association.
Last Sunday, about 10 students helped the first two move in,
cleaning their dwelling and carrying in furniture.
“Instead of working too hard to fulfill the role of a volunteer,
I aim to be accepted as a resident,” Shunichi Sato, a 22-year-old
Fukushima University student who volunteered. “I’m looking
forward to talking with people who I’ve had few chances to get to
know.”
Source : Japan Timeshttp://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/06/25/national/student-volunteers-move-elderly-311-refugees-fukushima/#.VYvRf0b1CM9

Wednesday, 24 June 2015

Japan's
nuclear regulators have come up with a revised plan to provide
emergency medical care to residents after accidents at nuclear power
plants. The government has until now helped set up hospitals near
nuclear plants to treat small numbers of workers exposed to radiation
in accidents.But in the 2011 nuclear disaster at the ‪Fukushima
Daiichi plant, local medical facilities were unable to adequately
treat the many residents thought to have been exposed to radiation.
At their meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday, the NRA, presented a draft of
revised guidelines for creating a network of medical facilities. The
plan proposes that prefectures within 30 kilometers of plants
designate 1 to 3 hospitals as base facilities to deal with nuclear
disasters.The hospitals are to have teams of experts treat
patients after accidents and go to other prefectures where nuclear
accidents occur.The draft also calls for designating hospitals
and other facilities within around 30 kilometers of nuclear plants as
“cooperating organizations." The facilities would check
evacuees for exposure to radiation and treat the injured and sick.
The NRA is to decide on the revised guidelines after soliciting
opinions from the public for 30 days from Thursday.

The top
official of a group of nuclear energy experts says the Fukushima
Daiichi accident has made it difficult for Japan to properly train
enough nuclear specialists.

Hiroshi Uetsuka, the new president
of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, told reporters on Wednesday
that every research reactor housed at universities and other
institutes across Japan is idled.

Uetsuka said the operators
of those institutes are unable to meet regulations that were revised
following the nuclear accident. He said the budgets and staff for the
research reactors have been cut.

The president called the
situation very serious because of the challenges that both
decommissioning and restarting reactors present.

He said his
society will put together proposals to address the problem.

Uetsuka
said the cause of the Fukushima Daiichi accident is well understood,
but investigations have yet to determine what exactly is going on
inside the reactors.

In 2013,
two years after the disaster, Japan’s permanent radiation-exclusion
zones were unveiled in the Japanese media.

The Japanese government
identified areas measuring between 20 and 50 millisieverts a year as
suitable for restricted living (visitation but not yet permanent
inhabitations).

Areas measuring fewer than 20 millisieverts a year of
annual exposure were designated as habitable zones and preparations
were made for lifting evacuation orders in these areas (“About 60
Percent,” 2013.)In effect, Japan increased its national
exposure level from one, to up to 20 millisieverts a year, while
allowing partial habitation in areas with up to 50 millisieverts.

In
comparison, the Soviets set the Chernobyl exclusion zone at five
millisieverts a year “Japan Groups Alarmed,” 2011.

This elevated
level applied for children as well as adults.In November 2013,
Japan announced it was changing its method of atmospheric monitoring
to an individualized badge system. According to a November 9, 2013
report from The Asahi Shimbun, the badges underestimated exposure
levels by seven times when compared to the atmospheric monitoring
technique that had previously been deployed by aircraft “Lower
Radiation Readings,” 2013.

Tuesday, 23 June 2015

As June wanes we find more
delays, more problems and new admissions about the extent of the
disaster.

TEPCO introduced a new
roadmap plan. At the same time they announced that spent fuel removal
work for units 1-3 would be delayed again. Currently they are
attempting to remove the cover on unit 1 but this process has not
actually begun based on visual evidence at the plant. Work at unit 3
had been underway in early spring to remove parts of the crane that
fell into the fuel pool. An oil leak was found as they attempted to
remove a portion of the crane. Around the same time they discovered
damage to the metal gate that connects the spent fuel pool to the
reactor well. After this discovery, removal work at unit 3 appeared
to cease.

Newer reports also showed
that the earlier concept of flooding the reactor containments to
remove damaged fuel debris is being phased out. This will require
research to be focused on ways to remove fuel without doing so under
water. Something that has not been done is to drill under the reactor
buildings to check for fuel debris that may have burned through the
basement of the reactor buildings. At this point the melted fuel at
units 1-3 has not been located. Delays in investigation efforts and
denial of the potential extent of the damage will only drive up costs
and create years of additional delay.

Bags of contaminated soil
stored at sites around Japan and in Fukushima prefecture have began
to fail. It was not mentioned how they would remediate the damaged
bags or what precautions would be used to prevent bags from failing
during the transportation process. Contaminated soil is to be moved
to two new storage facilities near Fukushima Daiichi.

The government has decided to
allow businesses back into the evacuation zone. Nahara is also a
location where reactor debris was discovered. A group of shareholders
seeking to hold TEPCO accountable for the nuclear disaster uncovered
a 2008 document where TEPCO admits the tsunami risk and that
something must be done. Somehow after that 2008 report was discussed
by TEPCO executives they managed to bury the document and do nothing
to prevent what happened in 2011.

In a recent Mainichi
interview, new details of the chaotic evacuations during the nuclear
disaster were revealed. Officials raised the contamination level
where they would attempt to decontaminate someone from 13,000 CPM to
100,000 CPM. All parties acknowledged that removing people from the
unsafe areas was a larger priority than decontaminating them.

The operator of the
disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says most of the facility's
other hoses like the one that developed a leak last month need repair
or replacement.

The leak from a cracked hose in late May sent
highly contaminated water into the plant's port, sending
radioactivity in the seawater there to the highest level since
observations began 2 years ago.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric
Power Company believes the crack in the hose was caused by stress
from excessive bending. It has checked 159 hoses of the same type at
the site, and found that 139 -- or nearly 90 percent -- are also
being used in an incorrect manner.

Some are similarly bent
beyond the permissible level set by the maker, or have not been
coated with material to protect them from damage.

TEPCO says
all the hoses that need improvement carry relatively low-level
radioactive water, including rainwater tainted at the site. The
utility plans to speed up work to replace the hoses with a more
durable type. It will also shorten the length of hoses used to carry
contaminated water to reduce the risk of leakage. Source: NHK http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150623_21.html

Piles of radiated soil lay along the side
of the road in a deserted town, as seen from the newly opened Joban
Expressway near the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in
Tomioka city, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, 22 June 2015.

Radiation in
the area along the highway closest to the power plants registers more
than 5 microsieverts per hour.

At its closest point the highway runs
only six kilometers from the destroyed plant.

According to a government
report, passengers inside a car traveling at 70 kilometers per hour
would be exposed to 0.2 microsieverts during a one way trip past the
power plants.

This is equivalent to 1/300 of the radiation output from a
chest X-ray.

Two
men have been charged in Taiwan related to the importing of banned
foods from Japan. Authorities in Taiwan have asked Japan to investigate
the crime on their end, so far they have received no response.

At the same time Japan is being uncooperative with Taiwan, they are
asking China to ease food import restrictions. Japan recently took South
Korea to the WTO in an attempt to force them to remove restrictions on
suspect food imports. So far there has been no indication Japan intends
to do the same to China.

The higher restrictions in place in China have created an additional problem for Japan. If they are able to comply with China’s stringent documentation
requirements they have little ability to claim less onerous
documentation rules in other countries are too difficult to meet. ipei Times

Monday, 22 June 2015

China banned imports of food produced in 10 prefectures in Japan including Miyagi, Nagano and Fukushima following the crisis

A
Japanese farm ministry official met a senior Chinese official in charge
of food inspection on Friday to request the easing of restrictions on
food imports introduced after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011,
sources said.
A director general at the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries used the meeting in Beijing to stress the safety of
Japanese food, the sources said.
China banned imports of food produced in 10 prefectures in Japan
including Miyagi, Nagano and Fukushima following the nuclear crisis.
The beginning of such talks reflects an improvement in relations between the two biggest Asian economies.
Ties had deteriorated after the Japanese government bought a major
part of the Japanese-administered Diaoyu Islands - known as Senkaku in
Japan - in the East China Sea, from a private Japanese owner in 2012.
The islands are claimed by China.
Both countries' leaders have met twice since November, indicating a thaw in their tense relations.
The sale and use of Japanese food products has dropped sharply at
department stores, supermarkets and restaurants in China since the
import ban went into effect.
But potential demand remains strong for such products.
The two countries are expected to set up another meeting of higher-ranking officials.
In another development, Beijing is set to hold a press conference on
the arrangements for a grand military parade to commemorate the 70th
anniversary of the end of second world war, another grievance between
the two nations.
Qu Rui, deputy director of the Military Parade Leading Group, is scheduled to attend the press conference.
The parade, to be held in September, is seen as an attempt by Beijing to exert pressure on Japan over wartime disputes.
But Beijing has said the parade is not targeted at any particular country.
China has said it will invite leaders of other nations to attend the parade.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to be a guest, but it is
not known if Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be invited.
Source: South China Morning Post
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1824614/japan-asks-china-ease-food-import-restrictions

Officials in charge of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant say
around 20 liters of highly radioactive water leaked from equipment used
to treat tainted rainwater. But they say the incident poses no danger to
the outside environment.

Tokyo Electric Power Company officials
say the leak came to light when an alarm went off around 9 AM on
Saturday. Workers found water was coming out of a joint in a pipe.

TEPCO says all of the water fell into a receptacle below the equipment.

The utility says the water contained about 24,000 becquerels per liter of beta-ray emitting substances, a very high amount.

TEPCO
officials say a valve that should have been open was closed, and they
believe this raised pressure in the pipes and caused the leak.

The utility is investigating to see if there was any error on the part of workers.

As prefectures and municipalities that host or border nuclear plants
upgrade their regional disaster prevention plans based on the nuclear
disaster response guidelines for citizen evacuation protocols announced
by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) in April, the problem of how
to measure and prevent radiation exposure among evacuees continues to
loom large.

"Reactor No. 1 (at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear
Power Plant) had exploded, and the inside of the offsite center (which
was established as the disaster response base of operations within
Fukushima Prefecture) also had high radiation levels. The figures for
the screenings we were conducting into whether or not residents had been
exposed to radiation were raised immediately afterward."

So recalls Tsuyoshi Ebine, 62, chief councilor in
charge of nuclear power measures with the Nagasaki Prefectural
Government. He was working for the secretariat of the Cabinet Office's
Nuclear Safety Commission at the time the nuclear accident occurred, and
headed shortly thereafter to the town of Okuma in Fukushima Prefecture
to begin engaging in disaster response measures at the offsite center
amidst the unfolding chaos.

According to the Fukushima Prefectural Government
and other bodies, standards that were in place prior to the nuclear
accident held that decontamination procedures should be performed on
anyone for whom radiation levels measured near the skin stood above
13,000 counts per minute (cpm). In the case of a one year-old child who
had inhaled radioactive substances, this would be equivalent to the
thyroid gland being exposed to 100 millisieverts of radiation. (The
permissible level of radiation exposure for the average adult is one
millisievert per year.)

Following the hydrogen explosion at the No. 1
reactor at the Fukushima plant, however, which took place on March 12,
2011 -- dispersing enormous amounts of radioactive materials --
screening centers for local evacuees were thrown into a state of total
confusion. Escaping to safety became the top priority, and acceptable
levels of radiation exposure were raised tenfold to some 100,000 cpm.
Readings exceeded this level for a total of 102 residents -- a figure,
moreover, that represented only those cases that were recorded.

According to the NRA's proposed measures for dealing with nuclear
power disasters, the radiation exposure level at which decontamination
is to take place is set at above 40,000 cpm for screenings conducted
within one month following a nuclear accident.

"For residents, the objective is evacuation --
and speed is top priority," comments Shinichi Araki, who heads the
department of nuclear emergency response and radioactive material
protection at the NRA's secretariat office. "Here, we are applying the
lessons learned from the experience of evacuations following the nuclear
accident in Fukushima."

A manual was additionally compiled outlining
guidelines for conducting examinations of residents leaving specific
areas following exposure to radiation. Hair and shoes are identified in
the manual as areas where such exposure generally occurs, and it is
explained that if a water source is available, hair should be washed --
and clothing should additionally be changed -- in order to help bring
radiation levels down. If subsequent testing reveals a figure below
40,000 cpm, the guidelines continue, the individual can then proceed to
evacuate.

In cases whereby residents evacuate knowing that
they have already been exposed to radiation, however, alleviating their
concerns is difficult.

"I hope that trainings can be conducted in order
to avoid the type of chaos that we saw following the Fukushima nuclear
accident," comments Araki. "The next step we must take is to allay the
fears that exist among residents who have faced radiation exposure."

Nagasaki Prefecture, where radiation exposure has
been experienced from the atomic bombing, has been rapidly implementing
measures for dealing with potential nuclear power accidents -- with
four of its cities lying within a 30-kilometer radius of the Kyushu
Electric Power Company's Genkai Nuclear Power Plant.

The prefecture revised its regional disaster
prevention plan in June 2012, prior to the national government
announcing its future disaster policy guidelines. Provisions were made
within the prefectural supplementary budget for radiation-blocking
stable iodine tablets, and revisions were made to its emergency
radiation exposure medical manual the following year in 2013, including
efforts such as increasing the number of medical facilities specializing
in early-stage radiation exposure from two to at least three.

Still, however, Ebine comments, "Radiation
prevention measures are lagging behind." The number of medical team
specialists remains insufficient, and plans are not in place for
evacuations at social welfare facilities or other establishments of a
similar nature.

"If there were to be an accident at the Genkai
Nuclear Power Plant that resulted in residents being exposed to more
than 40,000 cpm of radiation, it would not be enough to do as the
government advises -- which is to simply undertake decontamination until
the figure falls below the target level," Ebine adds. "It is preferable
to continue decontaminating until the lowest possible radiation
exposure levels are reached -- but no (government) standards are in
place in terms of the purpose and methods in this regard."

The medical manual for radiation exposure that
was put together by Nagasaki Prefecture includes information regarding
concrete methods for decontamination, such as using moist towelettes to
wipe away radioactive substances.

"Nagasaki Prefecture has experience with the
eruption of the Fugen-dake peak of the Unzen volcano, and we also sent
our employees to Fukushima Prefecture following the nuclear accident
there," notes Shinichi Yoshida, director of the prefecture's crisis
management department. "In addition, we have a framework in place based
upon research conducted at Nagasaki University with respect to our
history with the atomic bombing."

"Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster,
decontamination had to be undertaken with no available water source --
and nobody there knew what was going on," Yoshida added. "We must be
ready for any possible contingency -- and we have no choice but to make
efforts to educate as many residents as possible about the realities of
radiation."

BEIJING — The Japanese and Chinese governments have
agreed to hold negotiations aimed at easing China’s restrictions on
imports of Japanese foodstuffs, measures put in place following the
outbreak of a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power
plant.

The relevant bureau directors general from both
sides met in Beijing on Friday, it has been learned. The event
marked the first such talks since the crisis began and a move toward
compromise by China.

A bureau director general of the Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries Ministry participated in the Friday meeting,
as did China’s director general in charge of food inspections. The
Japan side said it thoroughly supervised agricultural products and
urged China to ease its restrictions, saying Japanese agricultural
products are safe and that resolving the issue of import
restrictions would contribute to the development of both nations.

China agreed to continue talks on the subject.

In addition to banning the imports of foodstuffs from
10 prefectures, including Fukushima, China requires the submission of
a “radiation inspection certifi-cate” for the import of certain
items from the other 37 prefectures, such as vegetables, fruit, dairy
products and tea leaves.

Because the form of this certificate has not been
decided, however, imports have been effectively halted.

About 50 countries and regions had curbed imports of
Japanese foodstuffs at one point in the wake of the nuclear crisis.
But 13 countries have lifted such rules entirely, and the trend
toward easing restrictions is growing.

On 6/19/2015, Tepco announced they measured 1,000,000 Bq/m3 of Strontium-90 at two locations in Fukushima plant port.
This is the highest reading in recorded history. The sample is the port seawater. Sampling date was 5/4/2015.
The location was near the water intake of Reactor 3 and 4, and also the screen of Reactor 4.
The previous highest readings were lower than 700,000 Bq/m3.
Tepco has not made any announcement on this rapid increase.

Radioactive cesium contamination levels in a river near the Fukushima
No. 1 nuclear plant rise in the spring and fall in the autumn, a new
study shows.

The researchers believe the rise is attributable
to very large numbers of leaves containing radioactive substances
falling into rivers in the spring. In one year, the radioactive cesium
level in the river in springtime was up to five times that in autumn.

Hirokazu Ozaki, research team leader and
assistant professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology,
said, "There is a possibility that radioactive substances are
concentrated in the bodies of fish through the food chain, so it's
important to grasp what's happening in the rivers. This study is
unprecedented, and we'd like to continue."

A group of Tokyo University of Agriculture and
Technology researchers analyzed sediment samples taken at 35 locations
along the middle reaches of the Abukuma River in Fukushima Prefecture,
40-50 kilometers from the atomic power station, in spring and autumn
from 2012 to 2014.

The average density of radioactive cesium-137 per
kilogram of sediment was 1,450 becquerels in spring 2012, 1,270
becquerels in autumn 2012, 2,700 becquerels in spring 2013, 451
becquerels in autumn 2013, 1,080 becquerels in spring 2014 and 600
becquerels in autumn 2014.

The highest level was 22,800 becquerels at one location in spring 2013, and there is a wide variation from location to location.

According to researchers, fallen leaves and
carcasses of animals containing concentrated radioactive materials fall
into the river in spring, increasing the amount of radioactive cesium in
the river. Then the rainy season from June to mid-July, along with the
typhoons that tend to strike during summer and early autumn, causes the
amount of water in the river to surge, sweeping sediment to the river's
lower reaches and decreasing cesium levels in the fall, they say.

On 6/17/2015, Tepco announced they measured the highest density of
all β nuclide (including Sr-90) in seawater outside of Fukushima plant
port.
The sampling date was 6/15/2015. The density was 16,000 – 24,000 Bq/m3.
The sampling locations were the North-East, East, and South-East of
the exit of the port. Especially in the South-East of the port exit, all
β nuclide had always been under detectable level until this time.
The distance of these sampling locations and the port exit is not announced.
The Strontium-90 density has not been reported either.

Tokyo Electric, the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear power plant, has released a document during a lawsuit brought by
over 40 shareholders which reveals the utilities acknowledgment that
tsunami defenses at the plant were not adequate.
The internal
document from 2008 noted that TEPCO executives had agreed that it would
be “indispensable” to further build up coastal defenses for the plant in
order to protect against a tsunami larger than had previously been
recorded.
The utility has asserted that it could not have foreseen
a tsunami of the size or magnitude that hit the plant in March 2011,
that it had done everything it could to protect the nuclear power plant,
took every available precaution against a tsunami, and has used that
defense to protect itself from litigation.
This positioning by
TEPCO has allowed the utility to argue that it is not responsible for
the triple meltdown, but the internal document casts a definitive shadow
over that claim.
Insiders from the nuclear industry in Japan have
come forward since 2011 and claimed that TEPCO and the federal
regulators ignored warnings of larger-than-expected tsunami in northern
Japan for years. By ignoring these warnings, TEPCO delayed implementing
countermeasures, including but not limited to increasing the height of
protective wave barriers or removing the critical emergency backup
diesel generators from the basements of the reactor buildings to higher
ground.

In 2004, Kunihiko Shimazaki, a former professor of seismology of the
University of Tokyo, warned that the coast of Fukushima could experience
tsunamis more than double the estimates of federal regulators and
TEPCO. His assertions were dismissed as “too speculative” and “pending
further research.”
At a nuclear engineering conference in Miami in
July 2007, Tokyo Electric researchers led by Toshiaki Sakai presented a
paper which concluded that there was a 10% chance that a tsunami could
test or overwhelm the defense at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power
plant in the next 50 years.
Engineers from TEPCO confirmed
Shimazaki’s concerns in 2008, when they produced three unique sets of
calculations that revealed tsunami waves up to 50 feet tall could hit
the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The utility sat on the
information for nearly a year before handing it over to federal
regulators and didn’t reveal the 50-foot wave calculation until March
7th, 2011, but by then it was too late.
In hindsight, it can now
be seen that TEPCO scientists realized by at latest 2004 that it was
indeed quite probable that a giant tsunami could overcome the defenses
at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant — defenses which were based
on engineering assumptions that dated back to the plant’s design in the
1960s.
In the weeks following the nuclear disaster in 2011,
former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan pointed out the weaknesses in
TEPCO’s tsunami defense concisely when he told the Japanese Parliament
“It’s undeniable their (Tokyo Electric’s) assumptions about tsunamis
were greatly mistaken. The fact that their standards were too low
invited the current situation.”
Source: Enformable
http://enformable.com/2015/06/internal-tepco-document-reveals-executives-knew-beefing-up-tsunami-defenses-was-indispensable/

The real picture
of the seriousness of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan is being
covered up by governments and corporations putting people's lives
further at risk.

Fukushima
will most probably go down in history as the biggest cover-up of the
21st Century as citizens are not being informed about the actual risks
and dangers. The real picture of the seriousness of the situation is
being covered up by governments and corporations, according to Robert
Hunziker, an environmental journalist.
Tens of thousands of Fukushima residents fled the area after the
horrific disaster of March 2011. Some areas on the peripheries
of Fukushima have reopened to former residents, but many people are
hesitant to return home because of widespread distrust of government
claims that it is safe.

One reason for such reluctance has to do
with the symptoms of radiation. It is sinister because it cannot be
detected by human senses. People are not biologically capable of sensing
its effects, according to Dr. Helen Caldicott, as reported by Global
Research.

She further added that radiation slowly accumulates over time without showing effects until it is too late.
It was reported by Ben Mirin that bird species around Fukushima are
in sharp decline, and it is getting worse over time. Some of the
developmental abnormalities of birds include cataracts, tumors, and
asymmetries. Birds were spotted with strange white patches on their
feathers, Smithsonian reported.
Dr. Helen Caldicott, co-founder of Physicians for Social
Responsibility, writes that Fukushima is literally a time bomb
in dormancy and right now the situation is totally out of control.

According to Dr. Caldicott, “It’s still possible that Tokyo may have to be evacuated, depending upon how things go.”

The highest radiation detected in the Tokyo Metro area was in Saitama
with cesium radiation levels detected at 919,000 Becquerel (Bq) per
square meter, a level almost twice as high as Chernobyl’s ‘permanent
dead zone evacuation limit of 500,000 Bq’, media reported.

Furthermore, there have been quite a few accidents and problems at the
Fukushima plant in the past year causing anxiety and anger
among residents there. Earlier it was reported that TEPCO is struggling
with an enormous amount of contaminated water which continues to leak
into the surrounding soil and sea.
But despite the severity of the Fukushima disaster, US Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton signed an agreement with Japan that the US
would continue importing Japanese foodstuff. Therefore, Dr. Caldicott
suggests that people not vote for Hillary Clinton.
“The US government has come up with a decision at the highest levels
of the State Department, as well as other departments who made a
decision to downplay Fukushima. In April, the month after the powerful
tsunami and earthquake crippled Japan including its nuclear power plant,
Hillary Clinton signed a pact with Japan that stated there is no
problem with the Japanese food supply and we will continue to buy it.
So, we are not sampling food coming in from Japan,” Arnie Gundersen,
energy advisor told Global Research.
However, unlike the United States, Germany is shutting down all
nuclear reactors because of Fukushima. In comparison to the horrible
Chernobyl accident, which involved only one reactor, Fukushima has a
minimum of three reactors that are emitting dangerous radiation.

Summary: A new analysis finds that U.S. news media coverage
of the Fukushima disaster largely minimized health risks to the general
population. Researchers analyzed more than 2,000 news articles from
four major U.S. outlets.

Four years after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear disaster, the disaster no longer dominates U.S. news headlines,
though the disabled plant continues to pour three tons of radioactive
water into the ocean each day. Homes, schools and businesses in the
Japanese prefecture are uninhabitable, and will likely be so forever.
Yet the U.S. media has dropped the story while public risks remain.

A new analysis by American University sociology professor Celine
Marie Pascale finds that U.S. news media coverage of the disaster
largely minimized health risks to the general population. Pascale
analyzed more than 2,000 news articles from four major U.S. outlets
following the disaster's occurrence March 11, 2011 through the second
anniversary on March 11, 2013. Only 6 percent of the coverage -- 129
articles -- focused on health risks to the public in Japan or elsewhere.
Human risks were framed, instead, in terms of workers in the disabled
nuclear plant.Disproportionate access
"It's shocking to see how few articles discussed risk to the general
population, and when they did, they typically characterized risk as
low," said Pascale, who studies the social construction of risk and
meanings of risk in the 21st century. "We see articles in prestigious
news outlets claiming that radioactivity from cosmic rays and rocks is
more dangerous than the radiation emanating from the collapsing
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant."
Pascale studied news articles, editorials, and letters from two newspapers, The Washington Post and The New York Times, and two nationally prominent online news sites, Politico and The Huffington Post.
These four media outlets are not only among the most prominent in the
United States, they are also among the most cited by television news and
talk shows, by other newspapers and blogs and are often taken up in
social media, Pascale said. In this sense, she added, understanding how
risk is constructed in media gives insight into how national concerns
and conversations get framed.
Pascale's analysis identified three primary ways in which the news
outlets minimized the risk posed by radioactive contamination to the
general population. Articles made comparisons to mundane, low-level
forms of radiation;defined the risks as unknowable, given the lack of
long-term studies; and largely excluded concerns expressed by experts
and residents who challenged the dominant narrative.
The research shows that corporations and government agencies had
disproportionate access to framing the event in the media, Pascale says.
Even years after the disaster, government and corporate spokespersons
constituted the majority of voices published. News accounts about local
impact -- for example, parents organizing to protect their children from
radiation in school lunches -- were also scarce.Globalization of risk
Pascale says her findings show the need for the public to be critical
consumers of news; expert knowledge can be used to create
misinformation and uncertainty -- especially in the information vacuums
that arise during disasters.
"The mainstream media -- in print and online -- did little to report
on health risks to the general population or to challenge the narratives
of public officials and their experts," Pascale said. "Discourses of
the risks surrounding disasters are political struggles to control the
presence and meaning of events and their consequences. How knowledge
about disasters is reported can have more to do with relations of power
than it does with the material consequences to people's lives."
While it is clear that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown was a
consequence of an earthquake and tsunami, like all disasters, it was
also the result of political, economic and social choices that created
or exacerbated broad-scale risks. In the 21st century, there's an
increasing "globalization of risk," Pascale argues. Major disasters have
potentially large-scale and long-term consequences for people,
environments, and economies.
"People's understanding of disasters will continue to be constructed
by media. How media members frame the presence of risk and the nature of
disaster matters," she said.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150311124202.htm

Thursday, 18 June 2015

Two business executives on Tuesday were charged with illegally
importing and falsely labeling food from areas of Japan affected by its
2011 nuclear disaster.
Each a manager of a local food importer, they are accused of importing snacks and soy sauce to Taiwan from the affected areas.
Authorities said one has done so since last year, while the other began the imports this year.
Neither
reported their imports to the Food and Drug Administration or Keelung
Customs officials, as legally required, authorities added.
Prosecutors
said the defendants knew that they were not allowed to import food
products from Japan’s Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba
prefectures, and intentionally hid the origin of their products from
downstream firms.
Food products from those prefectures have been
banned in Taiwan since the areas are suspected of radiation
contamination as a result of a meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi
nuclear power plant in March 2011 after an earthquake and tsunami on
March 11.
In March this year, authorities found that products from
the five restricted areas had made their way into Taiwan under false
labels.
The two managers, surnamed Teng (鄧) and Cho (卓), were
charged with falsifying documents and making profits by false pretenses
respectively, prosecutors said.
As for potential Japanese
accomplices, prosecutors said that they have asked Japan to assist the
investigation, but have not yet received a reply.
Prosecutors called on Japan to assist with the investigation to jointly protect customers’ food safety.
Source: Taipei Times
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2015/06/18/2003620995